title: The role of combination medical therapy in acromegaly: hope for the nonresponsive patient.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This review focuses on combination drug treatment for acromegaly patients, including novel concepts and experimental therapies, with an emphasis on the author's personal experience.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A review of published clinical studies demonstrates that combination therapy; somatostatin receptor ligands and dopamine agonists, somatostatin receptor ligands and pegvisomant, or cabergoline and pegvisomant could provide significant additive biochemical control of acromegaly in patients inadequately controlled with conventional somatostatin receptor ligand therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Advances in combination medical therapy have opened up new perspectives for acromegaly patients who are poorly, or nonresponsive to, presently available single drug therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Northwest Pituitary Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA. fleseriu@ohsu.edu
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fleseriu
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000077465:Cabergoline; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004873:Ergolines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D017481:Receptors, Somatostatin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D004873:Ergolines; D008024:Ligands; D017481:Receptors, Somatostatin; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D000077465:Cabergoline; C406545:pegvisomant